The Film Spectator (Mar-Dec 1928)

Page Six him, and his belief in fairies and banshees, and the smell of an Irish moor, and the fog that comes up from the sea to be twisted into wraith-like veils that hover over marsh and meadow; he mixed the blue of Irish eyes, and clay pipes, and jaunting cars, and the curve of an Irish hunter's neck, and out of all of them he has written an Irish poem and spread it on the screen. There could have been no more of him in the picture if he had played the leading part. The Fox organization unquestionably is giving us the finest photography that is reaching the screen. Hangman's House almost outdoes for sheer beauty the amazing shots in Street Angel and Sunrise. The fog effects are marvelous, and all the out-door scenes are rich in pictorial value, but the cameraman was as compelling in the lighting and photography of the interiors, which reflect perfect taste in designing and which maintain admirably the Irish atmosphere of the production. The whole picture emphasizes the important part in story-telling that is played by the scenic investiture of a motion picture. Rob Hangman's House of the quality lent it by its sets and locations, and we would have nothing left but a rather conventional movie story. The Fox organization gave it all the material aids to perfection and Ford supplemented them by selecting human types that suit exactly the settings in which he placed them. In the ensemble scenes there may be the usual number of nationalities represented, but all of them look Irish, and that is all that matters. And notwithstanding the fact that the picture is so rich in atmosphere, the story is not dominated by its setting. Ford never lost sight of the fact that his mission was to keep us interested in a narrative dealing with love and hate. As his humans move through the gorgeous settings we keep our eyes on them and are concerned with what they are doing, but all the time the beauty of the scenes and the wistful quality of the atmosphere play upon our senses as an alluring and soothing obligato. No attempt was made by the art department to steal our attention from the script; no great sets were built to dominate what took place within them. Physically Hangman's House is a perfect picture, but it never loses sight of the fact that a picture's first mission is to tell a story. * * * "Hangman's House" Is Notable in Many Ways WHILE Jack Ford never loses sight of his story in Hangman's House, he has made a fine picture out of it because he apparently grasps the elemental fact that the mind is intrigued more easily when the eye is pleased. He shows, also, that he understands the dramatic possibilities of a group. There is one scene that sums up my whole argument against the ridiculous use of close-ups. There are three characters in it. It is a deepmedium shot, showing the full figures of all three as they stand in tense attitudes, one of them with his back to the camera. Back of the characters we have the rich furnishings and the beautiful paneling of the library of an Irish home, adding beauty to a scene already dramatic. The attitudes of the three players put over the scene. It is what I have been advocating for years: the use of sets and the full figures of players to express drama. But the great majority of directors would have shot that scene entirely in close-ups. The camera would have flashed from one huge face to another to show us near views of famous THE FILJI SPECTATOR May 12, 1928 actors using in turn each of their five different expressions. Directors will argue gravely that the public will not be satisfied unless it can rub noses with emoting actresses, and will endeavor to make out a case for close-ups on that ground, but it is directorial incompetence, not public demand, that we can thank for the close-up curse. We get too many close-ups because we have too many incompetent directors. When we have more directors who understand screen art as John Ford understands it, we will have more pictures like Hangman's House. All its excellencies that I have pointed out already would not make a picture notable unless the acting were of a sort that fitted exactly the mood of all the rest of it. Ford was fortunate in not having a star who clings to the craziest belief existing in the screen world to-day: that fame can be built by close-ups. He had parts in his drama and he used actors to play them. Apparently he was not concerned with the amount of footage each was given. The result is that the two main characters, who carry the burden of the acting, enter and exit only when they should, and to no extent are rammed down our throats. Earle Foxe and Victor McLaglen play the parts, and neither of them ever before gave us such an intelligent performance. Foxe's portrayal of the thoroughly detestable heavy is a beautiful bit of screen acting. It differs widely from his Prussian officer in Four Sons, the first role in which he was given an opportunity to show what an excellent actor he is, and he handles it with so much understanding that you get from it the impression of compelling power, although the portrayal is free from all obvious acting and contains even little action. D'Arcy (Foxe) comes of a good Irish family, consequently has all the outward indications of the gentleman, a point that Foxe does not overlook in his portrayal of the character. He is suave, easy and graceful throughout, making it one of the finest performances of a heavy part that I have seen since I viewed the same actor in Four Sons. McLaglen plays a sympathetic part, and invests it with vigor, tenderness, whimsy and humor. Hobart Bosworth appears only in the opening sequences, as he has to die to advance the story, but his excellent performance registers strongly. The love interest is carried by June Collyer and Larry Kent. June has a charming screen personality, and in this picture proved equal to the emotional demands of her part. She is young at the business yet, and from what I have seen of her work thus far I would judge that Fox will be repaid for the effort being made to develop her. Her beauty and the charm and sweetness of her disposition give her a great start. I would have preferred seeing a young fellow of a more dashing type play the role PHILIP HURN Wrote the Original Story "ROAD HOUSE'' A RICHARD ROSSON PRODUCTION for FOX